Equipment for strengthening muscles used in swinging motion for sports purpose.
The prior art has generally recognized the benefits of strengthening muscles needed for swinging sports implements, and specifically for golf club swinging muscles, the prior art contains several suggestions. All of these are problematic for various reasons and none has become widely used.
Most of the patents suggesting golf swing exercisers apply a swing resistance that remains in a fixed location during the swing. This fails to orient the resistance in an effective direction throughout the swing, as can be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,229,002; 4,135,714; 4,253,663; 3,462,156 and 3,966,203.
A few other patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,874 and 5,284,464 suggest a swing resistance mounted on a central pivot so that the resistance follows a circular arc as the swing proceeds. This also is less than optimum, because a golf swing differs significantly from a circular arc.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,344 suggests a more complex movement of a swing resistance, but this requires a cumbersome and complex machine.
My invention aims at a swing exerciser applicable to sports implements generally and especially suitable for exercising muscles used in a golf swing by applying a resistance in an amount and a direction that are effectively matched to the force and direction requirements of the swing. My invention also keeps the necessary equipment simple so that swing exercising can be accomplished in an especially effective way without undue expense.
My swing exerciser is especially appropriate for a golf swing, since a golf swing extends through many feet of a complex curve as it proceeds from a back swing region to a hitting region. My invention keeps a resistance properly oriented to effectively resist advance of a golf handle through different regions of a golf swing so that a golf exerciser can feel comfortable and natural in a swing exercise. My swing exerciser can also be adapted to produce the same benefits for the swinging of sports implements other than golf clubs.
Since most of the muscle force applied in hitting a golf ball is concentrated in the swing""s approach to a hitting region, my invention applies significantly increased resistance in this region of the swing. This makes the muscles work especially hard as the golf handle approaches the hitting region, which effectively develops the muscle strength necessary for applying power to the golf swing.
My swing exerciser accomplishes these benefits by using a resistance that moves along a line as the swing proceeds. This allows proper orientation of a resistance cord that extends between a handle and the resistance moving along the line. My moveable resistance is also arranged to increase the resistance to handle movement as the handle approaches the hitting region so as to require a greater muscle force and more effective muscle exercise as the swing handle is driven into the hitting region.